13 nov. 2013

My Review: The World's End (7/10)

"And here we go! Just like the Five Musketeers!"

Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and director Edgar Wright's final installment of the Cornetto trilogy is a very entertaining and funny film. Just like its predecessors The World's End works as a comedy although this time the focus is on the sci-fi genre. Shaun of the Dead was based on horror, Hot Fuzz on buddy action films, and now The World's End makes fun of the apocalyptic science fiction films we've all seen. However the films all work best as a comedy considering Wright carefully constructs them and builds momentum at the right moments. The fans who pay close attention to the script will catch several of those small elements he includes in the comedy. Pegg and Frost also deliver great characters and have a solid supporting cast. If you enjoyed the humor in their previous films then you will be very satisfied with this film because it follows the same premise and has several of the same actors involved once again. The script is witty and the direction with the fast edits, slick camera angles, and well timed action sequences works really well. It might be a slightly more mature film than its predecessors, but it still includes all the key elements that made the first two such likable films. My personal favorite of the three will still be Hot Fuzz, probably because it was the first film I watched since I had never seen Shaun of the Dead, but I still enjoyed all three films. The humor in The World's End isn't the cheap kind, the jokes are well constructed but I understand that its humor isn't for everyone. The characters are all very well developed and each one has his or her own personal traits defined. It has a nostalgic vibe to it as well considering the characters all seem to lament over their lost youth, and are trying to live out those memories for one last time. It's a very satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy.

The film centers on five friends from a small English town that decide to get together 20 years later and finish what they never could during their teenage days: complete an epic pub crawl known as the Golden Mile. It consists of drinking one pint of beer in all 12 Newton Haven pubs in the course of one day. Gary (Simon Pegg), who was the leader of the group, decides to round up the crew and accomplish this goal. He is very self centered and doesn't treat his friends really well, but somehow (probably from a sense of nostalgia and trying to relive the best year of their lives) they all still decide to tag along. The group consists of Pete (Eddie Marsan) who was bullied upon during his youth, Steven (Paddy Considine) who is currently dating a young fitness instructor, Oliver (Martin Freeman) nicknamed O-Man because of a birthmark he had on his forehead that resembled a 6, and Andy (Nick Frost) who used to be Gary's best friend before they had a fallout and became estranged. As they begin their quest for the Golden mile they run into Sam (Rosamund Pike), Oliver's sister, with whom Gary had a one night fling when they were young, but Steven is the one who has been in love with her all his life. They are surprised to discover that the people in the town have changed and are behaving strangely. What begins as an apparently innocent and fun night might end up being a nightmare as they begin uncovering a conspiracy that threatens all of humanity.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost sort of switch roles from the ones they played in Shaun of the Dead. This time Nick plays the much more mature character, while Simon is the childish one. Pegg is really unlikable at the beginning of the film, as he manipulates and completely ignores his friends, but his character soon grows on us as we identify with his sense of nostalgia of the past. I think that the scenes between these group of friends hanging out in the pub was probably the strongest part of the film considering that the sci-fi scenes were a little too over the top (although some action sequences were really entertaining). The way these characters interact with one another is what makes this film worth seeing. The satire and slapsticknalso mixes really well with this smart comedy. I still think that Scott Pilgrim is Edgar Wright's best film to date, but he always delivers fun and entertaining movies.